Yes, alive…sort of

For the many of you inquiring, “are you guys still alive?”, the answer is, “Yes, alive…sort of.”

The cliché answer is “We’ve been pretty busy.” I think the reality is that we’re both busy and tired. It’s that time of year. So in the next week or so, we’re going to take a break and get away. We haven’t taken a long weekend or a vacation since Christmas, so it’s about time to do so. Hopefully that’ll bring us back to the energy level where we’re putting stuff on this blog more consistently.

So Kaelyn is currently putting four different balls (one being a basketball) on top of Zoe. Zoe, for her part, isn’t moving. So either she’s dead or she’s a very patient dog. Oh, now the balls are being rolled over and off Zoe’s body. Oh what fun to be a child. And a dog.

So lately we’ve seen more people leave Hinton. With all the oil stuff, lots of people are coming in, and lots of people are leaving. Our friends here in Hinton have headed out to the sticks in northern B.C. where there is gold and diamonds to be mined. Gold, I tell ya! It’s “break-up” season around here, meaning oil workers are now home more consistently, making a little less money, and doing a whole lot less. My friend Josh, who works in the oil patch, spent the last two days rescrubbing his truck floor (around 10-12 times) until his inspector told him it was clean enough. I think that’s what they call “keep ‘em busy.”

As for us, we’re looking forward to the next few months. It doesn’t look like I’ll be heading to Nicaragua (or Anaheim for that matter) this year, since Michelle has finished up her tutoring job. That’s okay though, because I think there are other things in store for us coming down the pipe. We’re into our evaluation season, whatever that means, but we are going to take the next little while a little bit easier. That was supposed to start this week, but we’re helping those friends move so we’re both pretty exhausted.

Kaelyn is a huge blessing during this whole busyness. We’ve hung out all day today (at the office too). She’s now learned ‘tank ooo’ (thank you), dere ah bitta (There, all better…usually comes after a kiss), and she’s into full-repeat mode. So yes, everyone, careful how you phrase things. You will hear them again. Kaelyn’s a pretty big goof too. She’ll give kisses all day, but then when it comes to bed time, it becomes a game to try and kiss her – one that could possibly last all night if you let it. Kaelyn and I will probably head out for another walk around the town here. Daddy/daughter time is great.

Just to throw this out there for those of you who need to laugh. Courtesy of cute babies everywhere. Watch it five times and see if you don't smile.

So to the many of you inquiring what rock we’ve crawled under, we’ll try and get caught up with you and see where things are at. For now, here’s my attempt at catching up around here.

Dere. Ah bitta.

Okay, so I couldn't hold off...

So, I've got a great crop of photos in front of me from that same weekend in Lloydminster and I want to fire them out there. We're currently packing for Youth Conference, and this is my way of "helping."

Mom and Dad Smith have arrived, Kaelyn is in bed, and Zoe continues to moo as she encourages us all to go to bed. We've got a big day and a big drive ahead of us tomorrow in two beater-vans.

This last week has been a bit of a write off. Nothing too exciting. I did preach last Sunday, calling the sermon "Licking the Cup" and the video turned out really great. It was a pretty cool day, even though I only got about 3 hours sleep the night before. Definitely a God-time, because I was sick, tired and a little stressed that morning, but had such a fun time speaking. Very very cool. I'm really finding that I'm enjoying those preaching times, but it's also true that I'm glad I don't have to do it every week (on that full-blown level, as opposed to the more conversational style that I have weekly with the teens).

So, on that note, only 4 months until summer! We looked over the plans for the cabin, like them, and I'm looking forward to how it's all going to look. Long live summer!

So really, all this dialogue is just to create enough room so I can put more pictures in. As you read this, think of Michelle and I, probably somewhat sleep-deprived, surrounded by thousands of people. Yippdeedoo. Hope everyone is having a great week, don't be scared to give us a call!

Send in the Clowns...

Attention all aunties, uncles, grandpas, grandmas, cousins, friends, GGs, nieces, nephews, mommies, daddies, and clueless dogs (no mention of cats on this blog, as they are only worthy of seeing the open end of a shotgun)...

...send in the clowns!

Put on a Frank Sinatra record (see Send in the Clowns), check out some of these pictures, and you just realize how important family truly is.

Have I got a ton of pictures for you. A few weekends ago (February 19-20, to be exact), we went to Lloydminster to spend some time with family for a day (yes, we are insane). We all stayed at a hotel where the kids could run up and down the hallways, jump in super warm and cold pools, go down waterslides (Kaelyn went once), and scream like two mad firetruck drivers down the mall, leaving bewildered people in their wake.

I'll hold off on some of the pictures until next week, when we'll be home again. Michelle and I are away at Youth Conference Calgary, and Grandma and Grandpa Smith are babysitting Kaelyn. So here you are! Some of the pictures of our fantastic weekend, and we'll be back in a few days!

And now back to our regular scheduled programming...

Well, hello out there. What do you suppose you're doing around these parts where no posting has happened in quite some time? You must be bored...

That's okay! We're glad you stopped in to check in on us! As you can see, all the pictures are of Kaelyn. Part of the reasoning for that is just because she's cute, and because we really haven't had a camera these last few weeks. After days of searching for the camera battery charger, we found it in a side pocket of one of the bags we cart around. So we're back! And, to make up for lost time, I've added a few extra pictures from the last few days.

So, as much as we've been around in the last couple weeks, we also have been constantly busy. Michelle had her birthday (28 on Feb 28, wow! Older than quite a few hills but still just a bit younger than dirt!) but we have yet to sit down and celebrate around here, but we hope to before she's 29! We have had an unofficial celebration with Michelle's parents out at Jasper Park Lodge, but Kaelyn and I are still teaming up on this one.

Speaking of Kaelyn, she's now got an impressive command of words. She'll take you through a book and point to the elephants, the red ball, and she'll count things if there is more than one.

"Waaaah. Tooooo. Teeeeeee."

For some reason, she thought it was funny whenever we counted something, so she would laugh loudly (She's very much like her mommy that way with only one volume setting - loud!).

One noticeable change in Kaelyn lately has been her choice in dance partners. While mom and dad are still okay dancers, it is now her teddy bears that get most of the floor time (Thanks, GG! You saved our energy levels, and our pride). She'll dance with her bears, and then sit them beside the stereo so they can continue listening to the wonderful music of The Wiggles (stinking prancing ponies and dancing pirates!).

So with that, we were glad to see the spring start to show up around here with the melting snow. The ski season has been very good with tons of new snow in the mountains. The faster it melts around here though, the happier I am!

Oh! I almost forgot! A couple weeks back we made a mad dash for Lloydminister where we met up with family (pictures still on the way). We watched Tristy and Kaelyn hang out, then swam in the pool (sort of a get-ready for the summer season at the lake), stayed the night in a hotel and came back home. Grandma and Grandpa Smith bought Kaelyn a little mini-DVD player for the trip, and was it ever timely!

The next week at the Switchfoot concert on our way home, we made it until Spruce Grove when our tire blew on the highway. I barely made it off the highway, called CAA, only to find out that it would be 2.5 hours (even with a baby and dog in the car). I may have mentioned this in the blog before, but it's been so long, so bear with me. So we drove to Canadian Tire (because we couldn't get the jack out) where they got us on the road with a new tire in 45 minutes! Thanks Canadian Tire!

I hate to leave it like this, but we've got a somewhat busy few days coming up. I'm preaching using one of the many videos we have created, with a spliced in section from Kingdom of Heaven (great movie). It should be a lot of fun, I'm looking forward to it again.

Oh, I'm listening to Michelle on the phone, and she's talking about a moment from today. Kaelyn and Michelle were at Stockburger's house, and Kaelyn had crawled up on the couch. Apparently Kaelyn said, "How do I get down?" even though it sounded like, "Howooigedown?" Ah, that little girl. Anyhow, I hope everyone is doing well. If you're checking this at your new house, Erin and Lea, we love you guys and hope you're enjoying it! For the rest of you, hope things are going well, and you enjoy the pictures!